reviews by bard by title true colors euphemism hall of fame ewok's picks nancy's picks biographies email us
					true colors by karen a. surtees and pruferblue http://members.aol.com/curio12/true.html SYNOPSIS: Mare, a smalltown country vet, is called out to look after a sick horse. It turns out that the horse belongs to TJ Meridian, the daughter of the greedy landowner who had left the town for dead years before by taking away the only real industries the town thrived on. TJ is back to make amends and to emerge from the shadow of her dominating father. The two women form a connection, to save the town, and each other. EWOK: If you're writing a story where one of the characters is a veterinarian, you really shouldn't give them the name Mare. I don't care if Mare is a perfectly acceptable variation on the name Mary - I've seen Mare Winningham the actress, and I respect her work - but in this context ... really. Go horsey! NANCY: I really like the character, but you're right, it brings up all kinds of nasty connotations. I can't believe the beta readers didn't pick that up. Do we just have a peculiar way of looking at things, Ewok? *g* EWOK: I guess we should just be glad they didn't see fit to make TJ's surname Wheeler. NANCY: *giggle* It's interesting that there's so many women running around here, I'm not quite sure who is supposed to be who. Besides the obvious ones, I feel like many of these characters *are* uber incarnations of minor characters, but which characters are the uber incarnations of which? excerpt: Despite Erin's claims to Mare that Paula could hire away angels from heaven... EWOK: Aw, this gets points for just being darn CUTE :) NANCY: *g* I'll give you that. BTW, is Erin a completely made-up character, or is she Ephiny? EWOK: My guess would be that it's Eponin and Ephiny, yeah. (P for Pony, P for Paula - E for Erin, E for Ephiny, maybe?) Better keep an eye on how Erin treats those horses. NANCY: And they thought closing the meatworks shook up Meridianville. Imagine what a Centaur son would do:-) EWOK: I do believe TJ is shaping up to be what boardroom bitch Dar Roberts needs to be. Oh the fun of it! NANCY: I enjoyed it. The characters have moments of real presence. No instant recognition factor, just a feeling that the Doc is some kind of good influence. Nice and subtle does it. Unfortunately the writers *do* slip every now and then: excerpt: Why can't I get her out of my mind? The fascination of this woman has awakened my thoughts in a way nothing has ever done before. I have to find out more about her and the Meridian family. Maybe once I have all the facts I can lay the mystery to rest. *clang* Bad line. Sticks out. I felt like it jumped off the page and smacked me one. No second guessing her actions or motivation, she's doing a pretty good job of spelling it all out for us. Also, one thing really bugging me here at times is that the writers are sometimes getting flummoxed with the tenses and voices. In this one paragraph they use first, second AND third person! excerpt: Nearly exhausted by this emotional upheaval, Mare lay back down, mulling over that last thought. Get real, Mare. TJ Meridian has everything money can buy. Just how the heck can a vet from the sticks help her? Only thing I know how to take care of is animals. Send this one back to your beta readers for a sharper polish, ladies. NANCY: All in all I'd say this is OK. 7.5/10, I wasn't overly excited by it, just entertained. EWOK: 6.5. What *does* it take to overly excite you, Nancy? NANCY: *blushes* Ewok, stop it, we have company!